Asha Bhosle
photo: firoze edassery · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Asha Bhosle, younger sister of Lata Mangeshkar and daughter of the classical vocalist Deenanath Mangeshkar, built one of the most prolific careers in recorded music by embracing the songs and styles her elders would not - cabaret numbers, ghazals, Western-tinged pop and everything between. Working especially with composer R. D. Burman from the 1960s, she became celebrated for a supple, sensual, endlessly adaptable voice. Where her sister embodied purity, Bhosle embodied range.
Bhosle learned to sing, by her own account, by keenly listening to her father, his disciples, and her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar; Lata's classical precision was the standard against which the younger sister measured and then differentiated herself.
listen forPlay Lata's poised 'Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh' before Asha's 'Chura Liya Hai Tumne' - the shared family tone is obvious, but hear how Asha loosens the line, adding a rhythmic swing and a knowing smile her sister kept out.
Like her sister, Bhosle received her grounding from their father Deenanath Mangeshkar, and that Hindustani classical training surfaces whenever she turns to ghazal and semi-classical film songs demanding precise ornamentation.
listen forAfter Deenanath's classical 'Shura Mi Vandile,' cue Asha's ghazal 'Dil Cheez Kya Hai' and listen for the disciplined melodic ornament and controlled glide between notes that mark the inherited classical schooling.
Bhosle came up in the late 1940s and 1950s when Geeta Dutt dominated the lighter, sultrier end of playback, and Asha's early breakthroughs came in exactly that territory of playful, cabaret-tinged film songs. Sources stress both singers forged distinct voices, so the link is idiom and generation more than direct homage.
listen forPlay Geeta's 'Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya' then Asha's 'Aaiye Meharbaan' and hear the shared sway of the seductive club-song idiom, the way a phrase can turn coy and languid over a slinky rhythm.